With the emerging of Application Enabler which is defined in the OMA specification, the mobile networks will allow subscribers from the third party application service, also called guest user, to register and place voice and/or data calls via the mobile network infrastructure as guest users, but there is no policy and charging control (PCC) for the guest users, which needs to be resolved as soon as possible.
Also with Third Generation Partnership Project Long Term Evolution (3 GPP LTE) mobile broadband technology getting matured, it makes possible for end user to conveniently access and/or download applications via mobile handset anytime and anywhere. A new sponsored data and charging account connection business model is emerging between network operators and third party application providers. In new business model, the third party application provider will own the users and their accounts, and the end user will pay for the service fee to the third party application provider (for example, AppStore provider, instead of directly paying for the service fee to the mobile operator. The third party application provider will have further revenue sharing with the network operator to guarantee the quality of service (QoS) of its application via mobile operator's broadband network.
However, 3GPP architecture doesn't well address the new emerging sponsored business model between network operators (for example, mobile operator) and third party application provider (for example, AppStore) (refer to 3GPP TS 23.203 and 23.913). The 3GPP PCC architecture only provides the solution for network operator to control its own subscriber's data service connection, and does not propose how to have policy and charging control for the end users owned by the third party application provider, since the third party end user pays for the connectivity which is separate from the subscriber's online charging in the PCC architecture.